We've kept leos successfully for six years and snakes for over 25 years. This was our first mossy leaftailed gecko, and a rare subspecies (uroplatus sikorae sameiti): c.b., purchased from a local breeder. She was housed in a 20-gal. glass aquarium with two inches of coconut husk substrate, half of the floor area covered with some Spanish moss. We gave her some fresh maple branches to climb, though she preferred the glass walls. Flexwatt heating under cage, UV 75w incandescent basking bulb at night. Floor temp averaged 75-83 F, air temp low to mid 70s. Misted several times per day with distilled water and kept the substrate damp.
She thrived from Sept. 25 until two days ago, when she became lethargic and sat on the floor over the warmest part.
The bulb burned out five days ago and we have not yet received the replacement. We turned up the Flexwatt heat to maintain 73-78 F air temps.
Today she's dead. Found about three days worth of crickets under her hid box.
Are these critters THAT delicate?
We are enchanted by mossy leaftails and wish to breed them. But if the absence of a lightbulb for a few days is going to kill them off, perhaps we'd better get enchanted by something else.
I take my responsbility to my critters very seriously.
I have been known to spend $75 on vet treatment for a $20 leo, and $65 on euthanasia by injection for same. My son, who was seven at the time, even insisted that we embalm Godzilla in clear resin. She is enshrined over his bed to this day, seven years later.
